LS: 18
Author: Dark Crafter
last update2025-08-22 13:40:13

Nighttime quickly arrived, the entire barren plain was engulfed in darkness, and a deafening silence spread across the vast plain, filling it with an ominous atmosphere.

The crew’s encampment could be seen at a random location within the barren plain. The tents were set very far away from the feared Bridge of the South.

At that moment, the remaining twenty-three members of the crew were sitting outside their tents. They gathered around the large campfire they had made, heating their dinner while discussing among themselves.

The king and the wizard, who were usually in their tents at times like these, were present as well. King Julian could be seen laughing and talking with his soldiers as though he were sitting among friends.

While the soldiers were aware of the king’s friendly nature, they had never had a chance to speak with him as they did now.

Even the wizard, who was usually shut in his tent practicing magic and reading books, was talking with them, sharing stories about exciting adventures, including a few scary ones.

On the other hand, the captain remained indoors. The sounds of a sword tearing through empty air, as well as constant heavy breathing, could be heard from his tent.

The soldiers found the captain’s behavior strange, as he hated training at night. Thus, hearing him train so hard instead of socializing with the others was very odd.

They even began to discuss among themselves, debating whether something had happened that triggered the captain to train so hard.

Some said the captain was training hard for the Mountain of Skulls, while others argued that he pushed himself so intensely because he had lost ten of his soldiers.

There was much speculation, but only the hero and the wizard knew exactly what had happened.

“See you all in the morning.”

William stood up and said to the others,

“Have a good night’s rest, hero.”

The crew smiled in response.

William nodded and strolled toward his tent, which was right after the captain’s.

He halted in front of Theobald’s tent, the noise was much louder up close. He could hear heavy breathing as well as the constant curses the captain muttered amidst his swings.

William stayed and listened for a few seconds, shook his head, and then strolled into his own tent.

Once inside, he sat on the bed and opened his inventory immediately.

There were two items in his inventory: his sword and a blue, glowing card with small white intricate symbols — the skill upgrade token.

Without wasting time, William equipped the token, and it instantly appeared in his outstretched hand, emitting a faint but mesmerizing glow.

“No description?”

William frowned.

DING!

[ Skill upgrade token — Activate the token by breaking the card. Once activated, you’ll receive the opportunity to pick one skill for upgrade. ]

‘Oh, I have to break it to use it. Odd.’

Curious to find out how powerful his swordsmanship skill would be, William snapped the card.

Following a subtle crack, a gentle, silent explosion of mesmerizing blue light occurred. The light formed a holographic window in front of William.

----

Skill upgrade token activated, pick a skill to upgrade.

AVAILABLE SKILLS: Swordmaster Lv. 1

NOTE: You have 1 minute remaining before the token expires.

----

“What is there to pick when I have just one skill?”

William muttered as he clicked on the only skill he possessed.

-------

Choice registered...

Upgrading skill (Swordmaster Lv. 1)...

Upgrade complete!

Swordmaster Lv. 1 ------> Swordmaster Lv. 2

Your proficiency with the sword has grown by 75%.

Your attack power with the sword has grown by 55%.

New moves have been added.

------

Right away, William felt a strange but exciting sensation drift through his body — new data of unique sword moves was absorbed into his mind. These moves were ones he had never seen or even imagined, and oddly enough, his body seemed to adapt to the changes. He felt as though he could easily execute all the complex moves!

‘I have to try this out!’

William opened his inventory and equipped his sword.

He felt different the moment the sword appeared in his hands, it felt so familiar, as if he had been using it for decades!

Clutching the sword, William performed a simple swing. The blade cut downward at a lethal speed, one he had never mustered before.

But that wasn’t the strange part.

“Did I just...”

On the wall of the tent, a few inches away from him and in the direction he had swung his sword, a sharp cut appeared — that would have been normal, but William’s sword did not touch the walls. Apparently, his swing was fast and strong enough to deal damage without contact.

As someone well versed in fantasy novels, he knew just how incredible such a feat was.

William stared at the sword and then at the cut as an amazed smile blossomed on his face.

“I should test it on a stronger object.”

William faced the wooden chair. He ensured he was close enough for accuracy but far enough to avoid contact, then he performed a simple horizontal swing.

After his swing, a cut appeared on the chair.

Observing the cut, William noticed that it was shallow.

“I’ll need more strength to cut down objects of this size and density with a contactless swing.”

Even though the results weren’t as perfect as he had expected, William remained optimistic about the new aspect of his swordsmanship skill.

He reminded himself that this skill alone already put him above every man in his original world, or so he thought.

William swung the sword around for another ten minutes, testing out the new moves in his mind. He discovered more unique tricks he could perform, and they filled him with joy as he lay down on the bed to rest.

But his rest was short-lived.

WHISTLE!

Just a few minutes after he lay down, a familiar loud whistle thundered.

‘Is it daytime already?’

William was confused, it hadn’t even been three hours since nightfall, and the rainbow-colored bird was already singing. Does time flow differently on the barren plain?

“Help!! My hands!”

“Protect the king!”

“Oh my God!”

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Latest Chapter

  • LS: 45

    Early morning had already arrived over the dark island. The sun shone brightly over the evil island, radiating a strong golden glow and heat.The sun easily permeated the small confinement of the room which only comprised of a few wooden chairs, a bed and a tall wooden cupboard where the previous owner of the room kept their wands and attires.Inside a spacious, dimly-lit room at the dark island, the core members of the two groups could be seen standing around a small desk.Melissa and Peterson brought out a more detailed ancient map of the place and described it to William and Theobald who represented their group. Only two members were allowed to attend the meeting thus both of them were sent."The first three floors are very easy to clear, they comprise mostly of mid-level apprentice wizards with barely enough mana in their mana reserve to cast powerful spells. While they are a little bit stronger than the wizards guarding the fences, they are not that much trouble for a well-traine

  • LS: 44

    The crew ended up spending more than half an hour discussing about the plans to infiltrate the dark tower, how to act within it, how to avoid suspicions, path to follow, and where to find certain important people inside the tower.Most of the explanation was done by Peterson, the trustworthy assassin of Melissa's squad. His information and description were clear and vivid—better than reading it from a map.Melissa and a few members of her squad also added to the information available. As they had been around the tower for several days, their understanding of the place was an important lesson to William and the others.During their discussions, they had to halt several times—either when the surveillance light flashed in their direction or when actual members of the cult walked by.They were able to finish their discussion without drawing that much attention to themselves.After they were done discussing, they began preparing to act on the plans they had just finalized."Here."Melissa

  • LS: 43

    William and the crew, now under disguise, were strolling around. From ahead, a group of Gravemind cultist strolled in their direction.They were about fifteen of them in numbers, each of them stood tall with heights above six feets. A few of them had huge muscular builds similar to Theobald's.Their strides were filled with arrogance, something the other cultist William had slayed lacked.William was the first to notice the oddity of the group marching in their direction, and he couldn't help but frown. Why were they so different from the others? he asked himself.William kept his eyes on the small group as they closed in on each other. His eyes was fixed on that of the biggest one in the ground who, coincidentally, also had his eyes locked with his. William could sense weird emotions from his eyes as they jammed; it was something between hatred and disgust.The two groups were just a few meters away from walking past each other. The silence between them stronger than ever, almost as

  • LS: 42

    A few men adorning dark robes and masks could be seen patrolling the mighty fence that enclosed the evil gathering of Gravemind cult. They walked in separate groups, each of them moving in different directions, ensuring that all the perimeter of the fence was covered at all times.A small group of three cultists could be seen strolling together while discussing amongst themselves, unaware of the arrival of an unstoppable opponent."I heard the great leader would be arriving tonight," one of them brought up a new conversation."Frederico told me about that a few hours ago, I thought he was lying. So you guys heard the same thing?" The one in the middle replied."Frederico wasn't lying, I overheard two of our superiors discussing about his arrival.""I suspect something important would go down in a few days. The great leader never visits the tower unless for a very important event, could it be that the preparing of the grand ritual has been completed and he is here to finalize it?"The

  • LS: 41

    William and the crew could be seen strolling towards the vast water body with silent and cautious step. At the moment, each of them had a long black fabric covering their head. The black fabric served as a camouflage each time the beam of the light rotated in their direction.As the land was plain and filled with dark sand and skeletal remains, covering themselves in black clothings made them more difficult to detect from afar.Thankfully, this barren land had no sort of abnormalities, not even corrupted creatures that usually raided the night.If there were unlucky enough to have faced anyone, their location would be revealed to the cult once and their entire plan would be ruined."Walk faster! We need to be at the island before morning arrives!"Theobald announced to the others while strolling beside the hero. Both of them took long strides forward, their eyes cautiously scanning their surroundings from time to time.King Julian and the others increased their pace and soon caught up

  • LS: 40

    After the peculiar sensation of passing through the portal faded, William found himself standing in a strange, unfamiliar location."Wow!"The scene before him prompted the hero to exclaim in genuine astonishment.Spread before his eyes was a vast, barren land plunged into darkness and gloom. Only the faint crescent light of the full moon hanging in the sky battled the intense blackness.Not far from his current position, William’s gaze fell on a truly vast, large water body that stretched over a long distance, seemingly unending from his perspective. The hero needed no geography expert to tell him this was Dark Island, the sacred landmark and hideout of the most terrifying dark wizard cult in this dark world.The sound of water calmly flowing could be heard clearly, and the waters were almost visible as they softly reflected the moon."What is that?"A surprised voice muttered behind the hero as its owner’s eyes suddenly and instantly fell upon a mysterious, silhouetted structure ris

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